Colleen Hoover is certainly a guilty pleasure and All Your Perfects was a perfect end of year/first of new year read. Amazon: “Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair. All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?” Somehow Hoover nails all the situations she writes about as though she herself was in them. Very enjoyable read.
Why not fill up with ALL the Colleen Hoover books? Confess was the next on the list. “At age twenty-one, Auburn Reed has already lost everything important to her. In her fight to rebuild her shattered life, she has her goals in sight and there is no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry. For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is keeping a major secret from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it. To save their relationship, all Owen needs to do is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin.” This was another good one. My only complaint was that they kept referring to the bathroom as the restroom (in houses)…weird. Otherwise, kept the pages turning.
Every year, at the end of the year, I look back on all the books I have read the year before and list my favorites overall. This year, my goal was again 100 books. I made it slightly above goal due to a lot of reading this winter break. The added bonus of this post is that you don’t have to bother to read any of my other posts over the course of the year.
And, in other exciting news, THIS IS MY 1000th POST. I have kept this blog for 9 years and in November of 2023, it will make the decade. Crazy. I hope it still is helpful to people. While I have grown lazier over that decade, it helps me remember what I have read and hopefully suggest good titles for others.
This year I had seven 5-star books and 19 4.5-star choices.
Here are my 2022 reading stats:
Books finished: 106 Fiction: 91 (86%) Non-fiction: 14 (13%), including 13 memoirs Authors of color: 20 (19%) Male/Female authors: 89 female (84%), 17 male (16%) Audiobooks: 4 Average rating: 3.8 Repeat authors: 46 (43%)
WOW! I loved The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd. And, while the fantasy element wouldn’t usually be my thing, it worked here and I just couldn’t put this one down. What a great last read of the year! And, if you grab it today, it’s only $2.99 on Amazon. “Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map. But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence…because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way. But why? To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps…” (Amazon)
I was loaned A Heart that Works by Rob Delaney shortly after having read about it on a recent “best of” list. Amazon: “In 2016, Rob Delaney’s one-year-old son, Henry, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The family had moved from Los Angeles to London with their two young boys when Rob’s wife was pregnant with Henry, their third. The move was an adventure and a challenge that would bind them even more tightly together as they navigated the novelty of London, the culture clashes, and the funhouse experience of Rob’s fame—thanks to his role as co-creator and co-star of the hit series Catastrophe. Henry’s illness was a cataclysm that changed everything about their lives. Amid the hospital routine, surgeries, and brutal treatments, they found a newfound community of nurses, aides, caregivers, and fellow parents contending with the unthinkable. Two years later, Henry died, and his family watched their world fall away to reveal the things that matter most. A Heart That Works is Delaney’s intimate, unflinching, and fiercely funny exploration of what happened – from the harrowing illness to the vivid, bodily impact of grief and the blind, furious rage that followed, through to the forceful, unstoppable love that remains. In the madness of his grief, Delaney grapples with the fragile miracle of life, the mysteries of death, and the question of purpose for those left behind. Delaney’s memoir—profound, painful, full of emotion, and bracingly honest—offers solace to those who have faced devastation and shows us how grace may appear even in the darkest times.” If you are looking for a good cry, read this book. It is heartbreaking. I imagine it would be a good choice for anyone who has had a similar traumatic experience, but it was really difficult to read. However, there is no way you could consider it less than amazing for someone to write of this impossibly tragic life event.
Katherine Center books are fluff at best and The Bodyguard was no exception. Pure candy, this one. Amazon: “She’s got his back. Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she’s an Executive Protection Agent (aka “bodyguard”), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker. He’s got her heart. Jack Stapleton’s a household name—captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, famous for, among other things, rising out of the waves in all manner of clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity. But a few years back, in the wake of a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and went off the grid. They’ve got a secret. When Jack’s mom gets sick, he comes home to the family’s Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn’t want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah—against her will and her better judgment—finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend as a cover. Even though her ex, like a jerk, says no one will believe it. What could possibly go wrong??? Hannah hardly believes it, herself. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it’s easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That’s the hardest thing she’s ever done.” Junk? Yes. Enjoyable? Also yes.
I have no idea how Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins ended up on my TBR list, but when I saw it on the shelf at the library, I grabbed it. And, it was a good read. Suspenseful and thrilling, and leaving you on the edge of your seat, while not being overly long, it was a good choice. “ONE ISLAND Beautiful, wild, and strange—Meroe Island is a desolate spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. It’s the perfect destination for the most adventurous traveler to escape everything… except the truth. SIX VISITORS Six stunning twentysomethings are about to embark on a blissful, free-spirited journey—one filled with sun-drenched days and intoxicating nights. But as it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in, sending them on a dangerous spiral of discovery. COUNTLESS SECRETS When one person goes missing and another turns up dead, the remaining friends wonder what dark currents lie beneath this impenetrable paradise—and who else will be swept under its secluded chaos. With its island gothic sensibility, sexy suspense, and spine-tingling reimagining of an Agatha Christie classic, Reckless Girls will wreck you.” (Amazon) I enjoyed this read – it would be perfect for the beach.
The House Across the Lake had a good premise and a good start, but it devolved into having a fantasy conclusion which was quite disappointing. Amazon: “Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of bourbon, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple living in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is powerful; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous. One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage isn’t as perfect as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey immediately suspects Tom of foul play. What she doesn’t realize is that there’s more to the story than meets the eye—and that shocking secrets can lurk beneath the most placid of surfaces.” I wish this had a different solution because it was a solid thriller before that and I would have enjoyed it much more.
So, everyone knows that I don’t like YA. I read it because I am a Literature Circle mentor at school, but otherwise, no thank you. However, two different readers who I respect suggested this was a must-read, so I grudgingly picked up We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds. Amazon: “Seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she’s uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery’s mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Every time Avery tries to look deeper, she’s turned away, leaving her desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two. While tempers flare in her avoidant family, Avery finds friendship in unexpected places: in Simone Cole, her captivating next-door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, daughter of the town’s most prominent family—whose mother’s murder remains unsolved. As the three girls grow closer—Avery and Simone’s friendship blossoming into romance—the sharp-edged opinions of their small southern town begin to hint at something insidious underneath. The racist history of Bardell, Georgia is rooted in Avery’s family in ways she can’t even imagine. With Mama Letty’s health dwindling every day, Avery must decide if digging for the truth is worth toppling the delicate relationships she’s built in Bardell—or if some things are better left buried.” And, I cried. It was a great read and, as reluctant as I am to do it, and as filled with every teenage angst theme it could be, it was a wonderful read and I give it five stars.
Read Between the Wines 